Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 11

Rabanus Maurus: The Lord, having sent out His disciples to preach with the foregoing instructions, now fulfills in action what He had taught in words, offering His preaching first to the Jews: And it came to pass when Jesus had ended all these sayings, he passed thence.

St. John Chrysostom: Having sent them forth, He withdrew Himself, giving them opportunity and time to do the things He had commanded. For while He was present and ready to heal, no one would come to His disciples.¹

Remigius of Auxerre: He rightly passes from the special teaching He delivered to His disciples to the general teaching He preached in the cities. In doing so, He passes, as it were, from heaven to earth, so that He might give light to all. By this deed of the Lord, all holy preachers are admonished that they should strive to benefit all.

Glossa Ordinaria: The Evangelist had shown above how Christ's miracles and teaching instructed both His disciples and the multitudes. He now shows how this instruction reached even John's disciples, so that they seemed to have some jealousy toward Christ. John, when he had heard in his bonds of the works of Christ, sent two of his disciples to say to him, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? ¹

St. Gregory the Great: We must inquire how John—who is a prophet and more than a prophet, who made the Lord known when He came to be baptized, saying, Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world!—would, after being cast into prison, send his disciples to ask, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? ²

Did he not know Him whom he had pointed out to others? Or was he uncertain whether this was He, whom by foretelling, by baptizing, and by making known, he had proclaimed to be He?

St. Ambrose of Milan, Ambros., in Luc 7:19: Some understand it this way: It was a great thing that John was enough of a prophet to acknowledge Christ and to preach the remission of sins. But, like a pious prophet, he could not think that He whom he had believed to be the One who was to come was to suffer death. He doubted, therefore, not in faith, but in love. So Peter also doubted, saying, This be far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee (Matthew 16:22).

St. John Chrysostom: But this seems hardly reasonable. For John was not ignorant of His death, but was the first to preach it, saying, Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world. By calling Him the Lamb, he plainly reveals the Cross, for in no other way than by the Cross did He take away the sins of the world. Also, how is he a greater prophet than others if he did not know those things which all the prophets knew? For Isaiah says, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).

St. Gregory the Great: This question may be answered better if we consider the order of events. At the waters of the Jordan, he had affirmed that this was the Redeemer of the world. After he was thrown into prison, he inquires if this was the One who was to come—not because he doubted that this was the Redeemer, but because he asks to know whether He who had come into the world in His own person would also descend in His own person to the world below.

St. Jerome: Therefore, he frames his question this way: Art thou he that is to come? Not, Art Thou He that hast come? The meaning is, “Direct me, since I am about to go down into the lower parts of the earth, whether I should also announce You to the spirits beneath; or whether You, as the Son of God, will not taste death but will send another to this sacrament?”

St. John Chrysostom: But is this a more reasonable explanation than the other? For why, then, did he not say, “Are you the One coming to the world beneath?” and not simply, Art thou he that is to come?

And the reason for his seeking to know—namely, that he might preach Him there—is ridiculous. For the present life is the time of grace; after death come judgment and punishment. Therefore, there was no need of a forerunner there. Again, if unbelievers who came to believe after death were to be saved, then no one would perish; all would then repent and worship, for every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth (Philippians 2:10).

Glossa Ordinaria: It should be noted, however, that St. Jerome and St. Gregory the Great did not say that John was to proclaim Christ's coming to the world beneath so that the unbelievers there might be converted to the faith, but so that the righteous who waited in expectation of Christ would be comforted by His near approach. ³

St. Hilary of Poitiers: It is indeed certain that a man who, as a forerunner, proclaimed Christ's coming; as a prophet, knew Him when He stood before him; and as a Confessor, worshiped Him when He came to him, could not fall into error from such abundant knowledge. Nor can it be believed that the grace of the Holy Spirit failed him when he was thrown into prison, since the Spirit would later minister the light of His power to the Apostles when they were in prison.

St. Jerome: Therefore, he does not ask because he himself was ignorant. Rather, just as the Savior asks where Lazarus is buriedⁱ so that those who showed Him the tomb might be prepared for faith and believe that the dead was truly raised again, so John, about to be put to death by Herod, sends his disciples to Christ so that by this opportunity of seeing His signs and wonders, they might believe in Him and thus learn through their master's inquiry.

John's disciples had some bitterness and jealousy toward the Lord, as their former inquiry showed: “Why do you and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

St. John Chrysostom: While John was with them, he kept them rightly convinced concerning Christ. But as he was going to die, he became more concerned for them. He feared that he might leave his disciples prey to some destructive doctrine and that they would remain separate from Christ, to whom he had been careful to bring all his followers from the beginning.

If he had said, “Depart from me, for He is better than I am,” he would not have persuaded them, as they would have supposed he spoke from humility—an opinion that would have drawn them even more closely to him. What, then, does he do? He waits to hear from them that Christ is working miracles.

He did not send all of them, but only two (whom he perhaps chose as more ready to believe than the rest), so that the reason for his inquiry would be unsuspected. He also sent them so that from the very things they would see, they might understand the difference between him and Jesus.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: John, then, is providing not for his own ignorance, but for his disciples'. He sent them to see Christ's works so that they would know it was no other whom he had proclaimed. He sent them so the works themselves would establish what John had spoken, ensuring they would not look for any other Christ than the One to whom His works had borne testimony.

St. John Chrysostom: So also Christ, knowing John's mind, did not say, “I am He.” In this way, He would have put an obstacle before those who heard Him, who would have at least thought to themselves, if they did not say it aloud, what the Jews said to Christ: You bear witness of yourself (John 6:13).

Therefore, He wanted them to learn from His miracles, and so He presented His teaching to them more clearly and without suspicion, for the testimony of deeds is stronger than the testimony of words. He immediately healed a number of blind, lame, and many others—not for the sake of John, who already knew, but for the others who doubted. As it is written: And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John what you have heard and seen; The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them.

St. Jerome: This last point is no less important than the first. Understand it as if it had been said, “Even the poor,” so that between the noble and the lowly, the rich and the poor, there is no difference in the preaching. This demonstrates the integrity of the master and the truth of the teacher: that in His sight, everyone who can be saved is equal.

St. John Chrysostom: The words, And blessed is he who shall not be offended in me, are directed at the messengers; they were the ones offended in Him. But He, not publicizing their doubts and leaving it to their own conscience, privately introduced a refutation of them.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: This saying—that blessed are those who would not be offended in Him—showed the disciples what John had guarded against by sending them. For John, fearing this very thing, had sent his disciples so that they might hear Christ.

St. Gregory the Great: Alternatively, the minds of unbelievers were greatly offended by Christ because after He performed many miracles, they saw Him finally put to death. This is why Paul says, We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumblingblock (1 Corinthians 1:23). ⁴

What, then, does Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me mean, if not a direct allusion to the humiliation of His death? It is as if to say, “I do indeed perform wonderful works, but I do not disdain to suffer humble things. Therefore, because I too will die, people must be careful not to despise My death in Me, even as they revere My wonderful works.”

St. Hilary of Poitiers: In these events concerning John, there is a deep store of mystical meaning. The very condition and circumstances of a prophet are themselves a prophecy.

John signifies the Law, for the Law proclaimed Christ, preaching the remission of sins and promising the kingdom of heaven. When the Law was on the point of expiring—having been, through the sins of the people which hindered them from understanding what it spoke of Christ, shut up as it were in bonds and prison—it sends people to the contemplation of the Gospel, so that unbelief might see the truth of the Law's words established by the Gospel's deeds.

St. Ambrose of Milan: And perhaps the two disciples who were sent represent two peoples: the Jews, and the Gentiles who believed.

St. John Chrysostom: Enough had now been done for John's disciples; they returned assured concerning Christ by the wonderful works they had seen. But it was necessary that the multitude also should be corrected, for they had formed many wrong ideas from the question of John's disciples, not knowing John's purpose in sending them. They might have been thinking, "He who bore such witness to Christ has now changed his mind and doubts whether this is He. Does he do this because he is jealous of Jesus? Has the prison taken away his courage? Or were the words he spoke before empty and untrue?"¹

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Therefore, so that this might not lead them to think of John as being offended with Christ, the text continues, "When they had gone away, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes concerning John."

St. John Chrysostom: He spoke "as they departed" so that He would not seem to be flattering the man. In correcting the error of the multitude, He does not openly expose their secret suspicions. Instead, by framing His words to address what was in their hearts, He shows that He knows hidden things.

He did not say to them as He did to the Jews, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?", although what they had thought was indeed evil. Yet it did not proceed from wickedness, but from ignorance. Therefore, He did not speak to them harshly but answered on John's behalf, showing that he had not fallen from his former opinion. He teaches them this not by His word only, but by their own witness—the witness of their actions and their words.

"What did you go out into the wilderness to see?" As if to say, "Why did you leave the towns and go out into the wilderness?" Such great multitudes would not have gone so quickly into the desert if they had not expected to see someone great and wonderful—someone more stable than a rock.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: They had not gone out at this time into the desert to see John, for he was no longer in the desert but in prison. But Jesus is speaking of the time when John was still in the desert, and the people flocked to him.

St. John Chrysostom: And note that, without mentioning any other fault, He clears John of the fickleness the multitude suspected, saying, "A reed shaken by the wind?"

St. Gregory the Great: He proposes this question not to affirm it, but to deny it. For if just a breath of air touches a reed, it bends it one way or another. This is a type of the carnal mind, which leans to either side depending on whether the breath of praise or detraction reaches it.²

John was not a reed shaken by the wind, for no change of circumstance bent him from his uprightness. The Lord's meaning, then, is this:

St. Jerome: "Was it for this that you went out into the desert? To see a man like a reed, carried about by every wind, who, out of fickleness, now doubts the One whom he once preached? Or perhaps he is stirred up against Me by the sting of envy and seeks empty honor from his preaching, so that he might profit from it. Why would he covet wealth? So that he could have dainty food? But his food is locusts and wild honey. So that he could wear soft clothing? But his clothing is camel's hair." This is why He adds, "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?"

St. John Chrysostom: To put it another way, you yourselves have shown that John is not a wavering reed by going out to him in the desert. Nor can anyone say that John was once firm but has since become willful and wavering. For just as some are prone to anger by their natural disposition while others become so through long weakness and indulgence, so it is with inconstancy: some are inconstant by nature, while others become so by yielding to their own whims and self-indulgence.

But John was not inconstant by natural disposition; this is what He means by saying, "What did you go out to see? A reed shaken by the wind?" Nor had he corrupted his excellent nature by self-indulgence, for the fact that he did not serve the flesh is shown by his clothing, his dwelling in the desert, and his imprisonment. If he had sought soft clothing, he would not have lived in the desert but in kings' houses: "Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses."

St. Jerome: This teaches that an austere life and strict preaching should avoid kings' courts and the palaces of the rich and luxurious.

St. Gregory the Great: Let no one suppose that there is nothing sinful in luxury and rich dress. If the pursuit of such things were blameless, the Lord would not have commended John for the coarseness of his clothing in this way, nor would Peter have checked the desire for fine clothes in women as he does: "not in costly raiment" (1 Peter 3:3).³

St. Augustine of Hippo: In all such things, we do not blame the use of the items, but the sinful desire of those who use them. For whoever uses the good things available to him more sparingly than is customary for those with whom he lives is either temperate or superstitious. Conversely, whoever uses them in a measure exceeding the practice of the good people among whom he lives either has a specific purposeⁱ in doing so, or else is simply self-indulgent.⁴

St. John Chrysostom: Having described John's habits from his dwelling place, his clothing, and the crowds of people who came to hear him, Jesus now introduces the fact that he is also a prophet: "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet."

St. Gregory the Great: The office of a prophet is to foretell things to come, not to show them as present. John, therefore, is more than a prophet because the One whom he foretold by going before Him, he also revealed as present by pointing Him out.⁵

St. Jerome: In this he is also greater than the other prophets: to his prophetic privilege is added the reward of being the Baptist who would baptize his Lord.

St. John Chrysostom: Then He shows in what respect John is greater, saying, "This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my angel before your face.’"

St. Jerome: To add to this great worthiness of John, He brings a passage from Malachi (Malachi 3:1), in which John is spoken of as an Angel. We must suppose that John is called an "Angel" here not because he shares the angelic nature, but because of the dignity of his office as a forerunner of the Lord.

St. Gregory the Great: For the Greek word angelos is nuntius in Latin, meaning "a messenger." Therefore, he who came to bear a heavenly message is rightly called an Angel, so that he may preserve in his title the dignity that he fulfills in his office.

St. John Chrysostom: He shows that John is greater than the prophets because he is near to Christ, as He says, "I send...before your face"—that is, near You. Just as those who walk next to the king's chariot are more illustrious than others, so too is John because of his nearness to Christ.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Also, the other prophets were sent to announce Christ's coming, but John was sent to prepare His way, as it follows: "who will prepare your way before you."

Glossa Ordinaria: That is, he will open the hearts of Your hearers by preaching repentance and baptizing.⁶

St. Jerome: Mystically, the desert is that which is deserted by the Holy Spirit, where there is no dwelling place for God. The reed signifies a man who outwardly appears to live a pious life but lacks any real fruit within himself. He is fair on the outside but hollow within, moved by every breath of wind—that is, by every impulse of unclean spirits—having no firmness to remain still and being devoid of the soul's substance.

The garment with which his body is clothed shows that his mind is lost in luxury and self-indulgence. The kings are the fallen angels; they are the ones who are powerful in this life and the lords of this world. Thus, "Those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses"; that is, it is clear that those whose bodies are weakened and destroyed by luxury are possessed by demons.

St. Gregory the Great: Likewise, John was not "clothed in soft raiment"; that is, he did not encourage sinners in their sinful life by speaking smooth things to them. Instead, he rebuked them with sharpness and rigor, saying, "Brood of vipers!" and so on (Matthew 3:7).

St. John Chrysostom: After first delivering the Prophet's testimony in praise of John, He did not stop there, but added His own judgment concerning him, saying: Among them that are born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.

Rabanus Maurus: It is as if to say: Why is it necessary to recount the praises of John the Baptist one by one? I say verily unto you, Among them that are born of women, etc. He says “women,” not “virgins.”

If the same word, “mulier,” which denotes a married person, is anywhere in the Gospels applied to Mary, it should be known that the translator has there used “mulier” for “femina,” as in that passage: Woman, behold thy son! (John 19:26).

St. Jerome: He is therefore placed above all those who are born in wedlock, but not above Him who was born of the Virgin and the Holy Spirit.

Yet these words, there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist, do not imply that John is to be placed above the Prophets, Patriarchs, and all others, but only that he is equal to them. For the fact that others are not greater than him does not mean that he is therefore greater than them.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: But since righteousness has such great depth that only God can be perfect in it, I suppose that all the saints, when tested by the sharpness of divine judgment, are ranked in a fixed order—some lower, and some higher than others. From this we understand that He who has none greater than Himself is greater than all.

St. John Chrysostom: So that the abundance of this praise would not create a wrong inclination in the Jews to set John above Christ, He corrects this, saying: He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The hereticⁱ argues from this verse to prove that since John did not belong to the kingdom of heaven, then much less did the other Prophets of that people, whom John surpasses in greatness. But these words of the Lord may be understood in two ways.

First, the kingdom of heaven could be something we have not yet received—namely, that of which He speaks: Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom (Matthew 25:34). Because those in it are angels, the least among them is greater than a righteous man who still has a corruptible body.

Alternatively, if we must understand the kingdom of heaven to mean the Church—whose children include all the righteous from the beginning of the world until now—then the Lord is speaking of Himself. He came after John in the time of His birth but is greater with respect to His divine nature and supreme power.

Therefore, according to the first interpretation, the verse is read: He who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. According to the second, it is: He who is less than he, is in the kingdom of heaven greater than he.¹

St. John Chrysostom: The kingdom of heaven—that is, the spiritual world and all relating to it. But some say that Christ spoke this of the Apostles.

St. Jerome: We understand it simply: every saint who is already with the Lord is greater than one who still stands in the battle. For it is one thing to have gained the crown of victory, and another to still be fighting on the field.

Glossa Ordinaria: So that what He had just said would not lead anyone to suppose that John was a stranger to the kingdom of heaven, He corrects this by adding, From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. ¹

St. Gregory the Great: By the kingdom of heaven is meant the heavenly throne. When sinners, defiled with any evil deed, return to it in penitence and amend themselves, they enter as if taking the place of another and seize the kingdom of heaven by violence. ²

St. Jerome: Because John the Baptist was the first to preach repentance to the people, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it is rightly said that from that day forward, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For the violence is great indeed when we, who are born of earth, seek a home in heaven and obtain by excellence what we do not have by nature.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Alternatively, the Lord instructed His apostles to go to the lost sheep of Israel, but all their preaching brought benefit to the tax collectors and sinners. Therefore, the kingdom suffers violence, and the violent take it by force, for the glory of Israel—due to the Fathers, foretold by the Prophets, and offered by Christ—is entered and held by force through the power of the Gentiles.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, all who come to it with haste take the kingdom of God by force through faith in Christ. This is why He says, from the days of John until now, and thus He brings them quickly to His faith, while at the same time supporting what had been spoken by John. For if all things were fulfilled up to the time of John, then Jesus is the One who was to come. Therefore, He adds, All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

St. Jerome: This does not mean that He cuts off all prophets after John, for we read in the Acts of the Apostles that Agabus prophesied, as did the four virgin daughters of Philip. Rather, He means that whatever the Law and the Prophets in our written Scriptures prophesied, they prophesied about the Lord. His saying, Prophesied until John, shows that this was the time of Christ's coming, and that the One whom they had foretold would come, John showed had already arrived.

St. John Chrysostom: Then He adds another sign concerning him, saying, And if you are willing to accept it, this is Elijah who was to come. The Lord speaks in Malachi, I will send you Elijah the Tishbite (Malachi 4:5); and of John again, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face.

St. Jerome: John, then, is said to be Elijah, not according to the foolish philosophers and certain heretics who propose their doctrine of metempsychosis (the passing of a soul from one body to another). Rather, it is because, as is said in another passage of the Gospel, he came in the spirit and power of Elijah and had the same grace and measure of the Holy Spirit.

In their austerity of life and fortitude of spirit, Elijah and John were alike. Both lived in the desert and wore a leather belt. Because he rebuked Ahab and Jezebel for their wickedness, Elijah was compelled to flee; because he condemned the unlawful union of Herod and Herodias, John was beheaded.

St. John Chrysostom: By saying, If you are willing to receive it, He shows their freedom of will and requires from them a willing mind. John the Baptist is Elijah, and Elijah is John, because both were forerunners of Christ.

St. Jerome: His saying, This is Elijah, is figurative and needs to be explained, as the words that follow show: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Remigius of Auxerre: This is as much as to say: whoever has ears of the heart to hear—that is, to understand—let him understand. For He did not say that John was Elijah in person, but in the Spirit.